Biden delivers ‘hard truth’ to Israel in Tel Aviv speech

Urges resumption of peace talks but PA refusing

By ICEJ News

11 Mar 2010

In a speech to students at Tel Aviv University on Thursday, US Vice President Joe Biden sought to smooth over this week’s blow-up with Israel over the surprise announcement of 1,600 new apartment units in east Jerusalem and urged that there be no delays in launching “proximity talks,” but the Palestinian Authority appears set to stage a hold-out until the housing project is canceled.

Biden repeated his criticism of the timing of the building decision today, saying he had “condemned” it at the request of US President Barack Obama. "Quite frankly, folks, only a friend can deliver the hardest truth," he said.

But Biden also praised the response of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the controversy and stressed that the US has "no better friend in the community of nations than Israel." He added that US-Israel relations are "impervious to any shifts in either country."

Addressing the prospects of US-mediated indirect negotiations agreed to earlier this week by both Israel and the PA, Biden insisted, "the most important thing is for these talks to go forward and go forward promptly and go forward in good faith. We can't delay because when progress is postponed, extremists exploit our differences.”

But the PA’s lead negotiator Saeb Erekat clarified today that the Palestinians will not begin the indirect talks with Israel unless the Israeli government cancels the approval of the 1,600 new homes for ultra-Orthodox Jews in the northern Jerusalem suburb of Ramat Shlomo. "We want to hear from [US envoy George] Mitchell that Israel has cancelled the decision to build housing units before we start the negotiations," Erekat said.

His remarks mirror the message PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas conveyed to Biden when he visited Ramallah yesterday. Abbas said it was not enough to condemn the Israeli decision, it also had to be cancelled.

Speaking in Cairo yesterday, Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa also confirmed that Abbas has decided to prolong his boycott of negotiations with Israel, already 15 months old.

The announcement of the new construction by a local planning board on Tuesday caught Biden as well as his host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by surprise. Netanyahu summoned Interior Minister Eli Yishai to an urgent meeting yesterday and reprimanded him for the decision's "wretched, displaced, insensitive" timing.

Meantime, residents of Ramat Shlomo were surprised by all the fuss over their usually quiet neighborhood.  “If we can’t build here, then tell me, please, where can we build?” one elderly heredi man asked reporters, echoing the sentiments of many local residents.

“President Obama and Vice President Biden will not dictate to Israel when and where to build in Jerusalem,” declared Likud MK Danny Danon during a visit to the neighborhood. “The Palestinians are trying to turn every construction project into an international incident, even though construction in Jerusalem is as natural as it would be in any other city.”

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